This photograph was taken in Halifax, North Carolina (U.S.), in April 1938. The sign on the tree (“Colored”) indicates that the water fountain was for use by Blacks, who were forbidden to use fountains reserved for white people.

USHMM #22533/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

"Jim Crow" laws barred African-Americans from access to employment and to public places such as restaurants, hotels, and other facilities. In the U.S. South especially, Blacks lived in fear of racially motivated violence.